Adjustable living space
A living space is disclosed including one or more adjustable or reconfigurable rooms. A room may be made reconfigurable by including fixed walls and a frame that is mounted to move in a first direction between a first position coextensive with the fixed walls and a second position that is extended relative to the fixed walls. The room may further include panels mounted in the frame configured to move in a second direction, orthogonal to the first direction, to seal off a front of the room. In examples, the panels may store against the frame when not in use.
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In densely populated constructions such as dormitories, apartment buildings and hotels, space is at a premium in order to maximize the number of units that can be provided within the construction. Traditionally, this has resulted in units in which both the communal living rooms and bedrooms have a small footprint. Moreover, these units have included fixed walls, where optimizing the size of one room or area comes at the expense of the size of another room or area.
More recently, it has become known to provide internal walls that are capable of moving in one direction to allow the size of a room to be dynamically changed. However, such systems have been complicated and expensive and, as such, not successfully implemented.
The present technology will now be described with reference to the figures, which in embodiments, relate to an adjustable or reconfigurable living space where one or more walls of a room are easily movable in one or more orthogonal directions to provide a high degree of flexibility in the room configuration. Furniture within the room such as a bed and closet may also be easily moved in coordination with the room configuration.
It is understood that the present technology may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the technology to those skilled in the art. Indeed, the technology is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents of these embodiments, which are included within the scope and spirit of the technology as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present technology, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present technology. However, it will be clear to those of ordinary skill in the art that the present technology may be practiced without such specific details.
The terms “longitudinal” and “transverse,” “top” and “bottom,” “upper” and “lower” and “vertical” and “horizontal,” and forms and synonyms thereof, as may be used herein are by way of example and illustrative purposes only, and are not meant to limit the description of the technology inasmuch as the referenced item can be exchanged in position and orientation. Also, as used herein, the terms “substantially” and/or “about” mean that the specified dimension or parameter may be varied within an acceptable manufacturing tolerance for a given application. In one embodiment, the acceptable manufacturing tolerance is ±2.5% of a given dimension.
An embodiment of the present technology will now be explained with reference to the plan and perspective views of
In embodiments described below, the room 102 may be a bedroom, but may be any of a variety of other rooms in further embodiments, including a communal area, a kitchen, a bathroom, a den, a living room, a work or other space within an office, or any other type of room found in a construction. The furniture described below within room 102 may be altered depending on the type of room 102.
In
The downwardly extending vertical sections 112b may include rollers (not shown) on their bottom surfaces that ride within a track 116, partially shown in
In embodiments, room 102 may include a bed 120 and a cupboard 122 having a door 122a (
In the retracted position shown in
On the other hand, where user wishes more space within the room 102, the user may move the frame 112 from its retracted position shown in
Referring now additionally to the perspective and plan views of room 102 shown in
Some or all of the panels 130 may be transparent (at least to some degree) as shown in
In the open position shown in
As shown for example in
In
Referring for example to
As noted above, room 102 may include a bed 120, a cupboard 122 and/or other furniture or components in various configurations. Examples of such configurations are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 10,577,788B1, to Zail, entitled “Reconfigurable Living Space,” which patent is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In the embodiment shown, the room 102 may include a bed 120 having its long axis oriented against the back wall 110, as shown in the figures. This bed may for example be a twin bed, but may be a queen, king or other size beds in further embodiments. In another example, the bed 120 may have its short axis oriented against the back wall 110, and protrude out of the room 102 when frame 112 is retracted. In such an example, the bed may be cantilevered off of the two side walls of the interior wall 110 so that the end of the bed protruding from room 102 may be suspended off of the ground. The sections of frame 112 may be wide enough so that the bed 120 in this embodiment is contained entirely within the room when the frame 112 is extended and the panels 130 close off the room. Where the panels 130 are stowed and rotate outward, room may be provided between the bed 120 and panels to allow them to rotate between their stowed and extended positions.
For purposes of this document, a connection may be a direct connection or an indirect connection (e.g., via one or more other parts). In some cases, when an element is referred to as being connected or coupled to another element, the element may be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected to the other element via intervening elements. When an element is referred to as being directly connected or coupled to another element, then there are no intervening elements between the element and the other element.
In summary, an example of the present technology relates to a living space, comprising: an area; a room adjoining the area, the room comprising: a fixed interior wall; and a frame configured to move in a first direction relative to the fixed interior wall such that the room has a first form factor when the frame is coextensive with the fixed interior wall and the room has a second, larger form factor when the frame is extended relative to the fixed interior wall.
In summary, in a further example, the present technology relates to a living space, comprising: an area; a room adjoining the area, the room comprising: a fixed interior wall, and a frame configured to move in a first direction relative to the fixed interior wall such that the room has a first form factor when the frame is coextensive with the fixed interior wall and the room has a second, larger form factor when the frame is extended relative to the fixed interior wall; a track in or on the frame; and a plurality of panels mounted for rotation and translation in the track.
The foregoing detailed description of the technology has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the technology to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The described embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the technology and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the technology in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the technology be defined by the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. A living space, comprising:
- an area;
- a room adjoining the area, the room comprising: a fixed interior wall; a frame configured to move in a first direction relative to the fixed interior wall such that the room has a first form factor when the frame is coextensive with the fixed interior wall and the room has a second, larger form factor when the frame is extended relative to the fixed interior wall; and a plurality of panels configured to slide in a second direction, orthogonal to the first direction, to open or seal off a front of the room;
- wherein the plurality of panels are mounted for movement in a track in or on the frame; and
- wherein the track comprises an arcuate section configured to allow rotation of the panels and a linear section configured to allow linear movement of at least some of the panels.
2. The living space of claim 1, wherein the frame further comprises a top horizontal section and a pair of vertical side sections.
3. The living space of claim 2, wherein the plurality of panels are configured to stow against at least one of the vertical side sections to leave a front of the room uncovered.
4. The living space of claim 3, wherein the plurality of panels are further configured to rotate outward to be orthogonal to the vertical side sections, and to slide in a second direction, orthogonal to the first direction, to seal off a front of the room.
5. A living space, comprising:
- an area;
- a room adjoining the area, the room comprising: a fixed interior wall, and a frame configured to move in a first direction relative to the fixed interior wall such that the room has a first form factor when the frame is coextensive with the fixed interior wall and the room has a second, larger form factor when the frame is extended relative to the fixed interior wall; a track in or on the frame; and a plurality of panels mounted for rotation and translation in the track.
6. The living space of claim 5, wherein the frame comprises a horizontal top section and a pair of vertical side sections, and wherein the panels are configured to stow against at least one of the vertical side sections to leave a front of the room uncovered.
7. The living space of claim 6, wherein the plurality of panels are further configured to rotate outward to be orthogonal to the vertical side sections, and to slide in a second direction, orthogonal to the first direction, to seal off a front of the room.
8. The living space of claim 5, wherein the plurality of panels comprise three panels.
9. The living space of claim 5, wherein the track includes arcuate sections along which the panels rotate, and linear sections along which the panels linearly translate.
10. The living space of claim 9, further comprising a plurality of pins for mounting the plurality of panels in the track.
11. The living space of claim 10 wherein the pins are configured to move along the arcuate section to move the panels from a stowed position against a vertical side section of the frame, and an extended position where the plurality of panels are orthogonal to the vertical side section of the frame.
12. The living space of claim 11, wherein the pins are configured to move along the linear sections, after rotating to their extended position, to close off a front of the room.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Oct 29, 2020
Date of Patent: Jul 5, 2022
Patent Publication Number: 20220136231
Assignee: Impact Urban, LLC (Mill Valley, CA)
Inventor: Nolan Zail (Mill Valley, CA)
Primary Examiner: Christine T Cajilig
Application Number: 17/084,015
International Classification: E04B 1/343 (20060101); E04B 1/344 (20060101); E04H 3/02 (20060101); E04H 1/02 (20060101);